2002 Volkswagen Passat consumer reviews

ok lets get into what I think about the 02' Passat. ITS JUNK!! Do not buy this car unless you feel like spending every last dime you have. The car was bought just about a year ago and it was fine then, no problems what so ever. The interior was nice, it handled pretty well, had plenty of power and yea at the time I probably would have bought another Volkswagen. Until... Out of nowhere the car would start saying STOP Oil Pressure. So the oil was taken care of. Still the motor blows and we have to get another motor which put us back $3,000. Not cool VW. We thought that's was the end of the problems. Until... We had to replace the alternator and the radiator fan the thermostat AND the heater core. Which put us back $1,400. Then we thought the problems were over for sure. UNTIL!!! We are now constantly having to get the oil and spark plugs changed and there is this really annoying popping sound coming from the front of the car and you can feel it right under your feet up front. So this problem is now branching from the front axel assembly. So there's yet ANOTHER repair to add to the already insane price of $4,400 we already spent on it. My advice to you, if your looking for a car... DO NOT BUY THIS ONE You WILL regret it. And to all of you at Volkswagen, all of you can expect to NEVER have my business again. I hope this was very helpful to all of you out there looking for something. Thank you.

Ask yourself which you prefer: Having money in the bank or your car on the road? With a Passat you will rarely have both. Yes, parts for most imports are expensive across the board, but it would appear that VW is trying to lead the field in making even the most seemingly simple parts expensive. VW's are very "pretty" cars, stylish and rather comfortable with roomy interiors. Handle well and can be a joy to drive. However, inside lurks a money sucking monster. Over all I am not a "Car Guy", to me they are tools for getting around. I don't baby them nor do I abuse them. I realize that tools must be taken care of and that they; like any machine, wear out and break down over time. That being said; I feel that if you take care of your tools you should be able to count on them to work reasonably well. Within 6 months two of my brothers and I all bought Passats. the only one still in the family is a diesel. The others have been scrapped. First off, hopefully whomever is selling you the car tells you about the timing belt issue. Do not take this lightly unless you want to rebuild your entire engine when it goes; as happened to my brother. At first mine only had a few little random things wear out/break down. Not all the time by any means, but often enough that I took notice because as I mentioned above even the "little" things are expensive. It continually got worse and worse as time went on. Including repeated repairs on the same issues; each equally expensive and equally useless. Engine, multiple issues with the wheel area, exhaust...etc Finally, between about 147,500 - 155,000 miles I had over $8,000 in repairs. Which was rather aggravating as I had paid $15,000(approx) for the car to begin with. During my latest; and subsequently last, repair I was told by the dealer that I should consider buying a new car as "These things don't really last much past 160,000." He even offered to let me test drive some new ones while I waited for my apparently terminally ill car to be repaired. I did not take him up on the offer. I may be wrong, but I do not find it unreasonable to expect a car to last beyond 160,000 if you take even halfway decent care of it. Sure it won't look or run like new, that's to be expected with wear and tear. But, to have it start falling apart no matter what? Ever heard the phrase "There's two days you loving owning a boat; the day you buy it and the day you sell it." That is how I now feel about Volkswagen. Perhaps if they spent a little less focus on beauty and the bells and whistles and more on reliability they would be great cars. However, I will never purchase one again. New to 60,000 miles they are beautiful cars which are amazing to drive. After that your better off dumping it and buying something that will not break your bank.

I bought my Passat in the spring of 2008. Yes, it's the turbo. Yes, it's the least reliable of the bunch. And yes, it has problems. That being said, this is STILL a great car! The motor has plenty of zip in it, it handles very well, rides comfortably and smoothly, and best of all is the way it feels when you drive it. It has a heavier feel to the steering, meaning you can actually feel the road as you go along. You can feel how this car is going to respond in the corners. It doesn't mean it's heavy and horrible in traffic, however. In fact, it actually feels rather nice in traffic. Now, my car does have plenty of problems, but that's because she had a hard life with the original owner. And I confess, I do love to drop down a gear and give her the beans from time to time. The thing is though, I see a lot of these reviews complaining about reliability and cost of maintenance. I, on the other hand, HAVEN'T spent all of my money on it, and despite all of it's problems it's always been a good car. I had one major issue with it, which as it turned out i just had to reset the computer and it's been fine ever since. The battery has been replaced 3 times. 3 times out of it's 12 year existence, which is normal. I live in Winnipeg, one of, if not THE coldest major city in North America in the winter. I almost never plug in this car, and she ALWAYS starts up in the morning. As for the oil pan issue, you can always pick up an aftermarket skid plate for it for $150 bucks. $250 if you want an aluminum skid plate. It is also rather well built. My car has never had a quality control issue with the interior, or exterior. Speaking of the exterior, this car looks so good! the stance it carries on the road is aggressive, but not so much that it looks like it would be uncomfortable to ride in. The body lines on it are just right, and the slightly bulging wheel arches make it look even better! Plus because of the fact that the engine is mounted inline as opposed to transversely, it has a longer hood and a short deck lid. But don't be fooled by that short deck lid. The trunk on the sedan model is very spacious. And you can fill it until it's stuffed because unlike most cars, it's got hydraulic hinges that don't intrude into the luggage space. All in all, this is a wonderful car. And if you take care of it properly, you'll fall in love with it. Sorry for the long review, but personally I like detailed reviews as opposed to those tiny ones that tell you almost nothing about the actual car. Hope it helped, and enjoy the rest of your day :)

Great deal , Great service ,Very Honest, Best deal i ever got!!!! ................... Thank you guys

The VW Passat Wagon is comfortable, handles nicely, has plenty of power, and feels like a luxury car. Unfortunately, it will bankrupt you on maintenance. We bought ours at 30k miles and it had been regularly serviced and maintained. In four years and 45k miles we've spent around $7000 on just about every repair imaginable, including of course regular service. The check engine light comes on every 7 or 8 weeks, and the causes can be hard to address because even an intermittent or random fault with any one of the bewildering array of sensors will trigger the check engine light. Additionally, even a moderate bump will crack the alloy oil pan, which sits way too low. This car is a an abomination. Avoid if you value your sanity and your bank account.

This car is amazing to drive and looks amazing but expect to be in the shop every 3 months with expensive fixes primarily coolant and engine problems. My last horrah was finding out I had significant engine damage and needed a new engine.

The Volkswagon Passat W8 has so far been the best overall car I have owned. It's faster than most cars on the road, awsome radio for being stock, sun roof, fog lights, and more for standard features. Serously, the only thing that it is missing is a Sat Nav (and yes I know the Europe models have). All wheel drive is awsome for people who have to drive in bad weather. Rain sensor windshield wipers that will speed up or slow down. Heated seats for those cold winter nights that are coming up. Now, the W8 does not get great gas milage but it will depend on how you drive. And a shelby mustang will beat you off the line, but hey, if you were looking for that, you would not be looking at this car review. The biggest thing with this car is to get in one and test drive it. There have been other W8 out there with no troubles and other's that broke down (depending on abuse of the car or not doing maintance). And before someone complains that the 4 cyl turbo someone reviewed above (or below) says that Passats are junk, this is not a 4 cyl buttom-of-the-line car. This is top of the line.

My family and I bought a black Passat in '04 and after that, our tempers began to boil. For the past 7 years, we had the gas tank replaced, twice; then the driver's side seat heater burned through the fabric and burned my dad's leg; we had the battery replaced so many times, especially during the winter time, cause it would freeze overnight, and we had both the front and back lights replaced a lot. The rear-view window is too small to see any cars coming and it's a wonder that we haven't gotten sideswiped. Other than losing our patience with the car, we lost so much money on repairs. Avoid the same fate as me and not buy this car!

I got passat in july 2010. But because of too much maintenance cost i sold it in may 2011. Car was awesome, it was smooth, small things in car will make you happy. But my car always had some or other problem. I have to change spark plug because oil was leaking, hose pipe and finally water pump and timing chain tensioner.

I loved, loved, LOVED this car!! I had it for 5 years and it had almost 200,000k on it and it drove great! It was GLS model and everything worked well. I'm hooked on VW and I got an 06 Jetta about 3 months ago and I love it as well. I tell everyone to get VW's. People say the cost of repair is high but if you maintain it, it will hardly break down....so it evens out...